Butte County is a place of natural beauty with countless opportunities for recreation in both rural and urban environments. Many Butte County residents live in one of the five incorporated towns or cities: Biggs, Chico, Gridley, Oroville or Paradise. Butte County government provides services to residents through 23 diverse departments. Services include elections, road maintenance, public safety, solid waste disposal, and health and human services to name a few.

Residents are encouraged to prepare property for rain and snow forecast to arrive over the next few days.

The National Weather Service is projecting rain, and a little snow for the highest elevations, in Butte County, beginning as early as Thursday, November 2, through Saturday, November 4th. Another storm is possible early next week.

The County is preparing for Potentially Heavy Rain

Butte County Public Works is preparing County owned public roads and drainage facilities for the potential of heavy rain. The County inspects facilities for weaknesses to heavy rain runoff and cleans our ditches and storm drain facilities to reduce flooding during heavy rain events.
Preparing County facilities is important, but it only covers County owned public facilities and the
County maintained right-of-way. Many, if not most, of the creeks and rivers that collect the
runoff from our roads are not maintained by the County; private property owners are responsible for preparing these areas for heavy rain events to reduce flooding impacts.

Who Should Prepare

Residents and property owners whose property has flooded in prior years due to heavy rain events should prepare for these upcoming events. Residents or property owners who feel they may have issues due to heavy rain events should prepare.

Wildfire Burn Scar Areas

Property owners in the recent wildland fire burn areas, or owners downstream of those burned areas should be away of the possibility of debris flow and clogged culverts and waterways. Residents should monitor their surroundings, and be prepared to leave the area if necessary.

Sand and sandbags have pre-staged near the various burn areas, to make it simpler for residents to protect their property. Check the Public Works Website at www.buttecounty.net/publicworks to see the latest information and updates.

Road Closures

Honey Run Road

As safety measure, Honey Run Road, from 2.2 miles above the Covered Bridge to Honey View Terrace in the Town of Paradise will be closed, due to the potential for downed trees, debris flow and rock fall onto the roadway, as a result of the Honey Fire burn scar.

Powellton Road

To preserve the integrity of this roadway, the roadway will remain under winter closure, from 2.7 miles above the lower Powellton/Skyway intersection, to the upper Powellton/Skyway Intersection. Crews have spent hundreds of hours installing water quality improvements to this critical roadway, and unauthorized 4x4 traffic on this fresh grading work would be detrimental to roadway and water quality in the Butte Creek Basin.

Concow Road

To preserve the integrity of this roadway, the roadway will remain under winter closure, from Ragdump, north to the end of county maintained mileage. This roadway was badly damaged in the winter of 2017, and while crews were able to reopen to emergency traffic, much additional work needs to be done to stabilize the roadway surface to prevent further damage and environmental degradation.
and clogged culverts and waterways. Residents should monitor their surroundings, and be prepared to leave the area if necessary.

OROVILLE, CA – A community meeting for residents affected by the LaPorte and Cherokee Fires will be held Monday, October 30th from 7-9pm at the Bangor Community Center located at 7500 Oro Bangor Highway. Residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the fire will have the opportunity to meet with staff from Butte County, CalRecycle, and CalOES to discuss the steps for recovering and rebuilding.

Information available will include property clean-up and disposal of hazardous material and fire debris, health and safety concerns during the clean-up process, permit process for rebuilding, and how to access additional resources.

Residents who are unable to attend the meeting are encouraged to visit the Butte County Fire Assistance Center (FAC) open Monday through Friday from 12-3pm, located at 7 County Center Drive in Oroville. Staff will be on hand to answer questions and to help residents complete forms and applications. Residents are encouraged to call 530.538.7473 to schedule an appointment, but walk-in service is also available.

Oroville, CA - Butte County residents who suffered damage or losses from the LaPorte Fire and the Cherokee Fire can now register for disaster assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA representatives are available to assist residents in applying for assistance at the Fire Assistance Center (FAC) located at 7 County Center Drive, Oroville, Monday, October 16th and Tuesday, October 17th from 8:00am to 4:00pm. FEMA representatives will also be available to assist residents at the Local Assistance Center (LAC) located at 7500 Oro Bangor Highway on Wednesday, October 18th and Thursday, October 19th from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Applicants will be asked for the following information:

Social Security number

Address of the damaged primary residence

Description of the damage

Information about insurance coverage

A current contact telephone number

An address where they can receive mail

Bank account and routing number for direct deposit of funds.

Disaster assistance for homeowners and renters may include grants to help pay for:

Temporary housing

Essential home repairs

Uninsured or underinsured personal property losses

Other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance

FEMA grants do not have to be repaid. FEMA assistance is nontaxable and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid or other federal benefits.

Registering with FEMA is required for federal aid, even if a survivor has registered with another disaster-relief organization, such as the American Red Cross. Survivors should register even if they have insurance.

FEMA cannot duplicate insurance payments, but underinsured applicants may receive help after their claims have been settled.

Residents can also apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone at 1.800.621.3362 or (TTY) 1.800.462.7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 1.800.621.3362. The toll-free numbers are open seven days a week from 7:00am to 10:00pm

A warrant to abate (cut down and remove) marijuana plants being grown in violation of Butte County’s medical marijuana cultivation regulation, commonly called “Measure A”, was executed yesterday on Dawn Terrace Drive in Concow by the Butte County Code Enforcement Division and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Unit with assistance from two members of the National Guard.

The operation resulted in seizure of 1,569 marijuana plants (7,845 pounds) with a street value of more than $7,845,000. No arrests were made by Sheriff's Deputies. The property had an unpermitted building, 8 to 10 abandoned vehicles and piles of junk on the parcel.

An administrative hearing officer determined 50 square feet of marijuana could be cultivated on the property based on the County's restrictions on cultivation of medical marijuana. As a result of the hearing officer’s decision, the property owner was given 10 days to bring the property into compliance, and when he failed to do so, the County obtained an abatement warrant and abated the nuisance. The County left 50 square feet of marijuana on the property.

Butte County’s local cultivation ordinance generally allows up to 150 square feet of medical marijuana to be grown by patients or caregivers as long as land use requirements are met that address public health and safety. After voters passed Proposition 64 in 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopted a local ordinance allowing six plants for personal use to be grown inside on less than 5 acres and outdoors on five acres or more. Cultivation sites in violation of local restrictions can be considered a public nuisance and the County can seek an order for the nuisance to be abated, as was the case for the property on Dawn Terrace Drive. Butte County encourages residents cultivating medical marijuana to Stay in the Box or stick to six plants for personal cultivation of adult use marijuana.

Six Additional Properties from Wall Fire to be Included

Oroville, CA – Starting Tuesday, October 3, 2017, The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) will begin removing household hazardous waste from 19 properties burned in the Ponderosa Fire and six properties burned in the Wall Fire. DTSC Teams from the State will be in the field with Butte County Environmental Health. The teams will visit burned properties to identify and remove household hazardous waste at no charge to the property owner.

Property owners from both fires who want to participate in the free program can still sign a right-of-entry form to grant the State access to remove household hazardous waste. Residents are encouraged to get the form turned in this week, while clean-up teams are in the affected area. Property owners should call Brenda Rightmyer with the Yankee Hill Fire Safe Council to get the right form and connect with the State teams. Brenda can be reached at, (530) 370-5302.

Removing household hazardous waste from burned home sites is an important step after a fire. Ash, charred debris, and other contaminated materials can be detrimental to health and may be hazardous waste. Once DTSC has completed household hazardous waste removal, they will provide certification to the property owner showing household hazardous waste has been properly identified and removed so they can safely begin cleaning up the remaining fire debris.

Property owners who do not participate in the program provided by the State must hire a hazardous waste specialist to identify and remove household hazardous waste from burned structures. The Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility will only accept fire debris from properties with a certificate showing household hazardous waste has been properly removed.